Egypt Exerts Efforts to Alleviate the Suffering of Palestinians

Recreational activities for Gaza children inside a Khan Yunis camp. (Egyptian Red Crescent)
Recreational activities for Gaza children inside a Khan Yunis camp. (Egyptian Red Crescent)
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Egypt Exerts Efforts to Alleviate the Suffering of Palestinians

Recreational activities for Gaza children inside a Khan Yunis camp. (Egyptian Red Crescent)
Recreational activities for Gaza children inside a Khan Yunis camp. (Egyptian Red Crescent)

The Egyptian air force carried out an airdrop of humanitarian aid Tuesday in the Gaza Strip, while Cairo has finished the preparation of a second refugee camp in Gaza.

The airdrop was conducted in cooperation with Jordan and the UAE, said state-run Al-Qahera News, citing high-level sources.

“Some 45 tons of Egyptian humanitarian aid were dropped in the northern and central Gaza Strip,” it said.

Egypt "intensifies its efforts by land and air to relieve the stricken areas in the northern Gaza Strip and supply them with urgent aid,” said Al-Qahera News.

It said Egypt plans to airdrop 50 tons of urgent humanitarian aid in the northern and central Gaza Strip.

Egypt is setting up a third refugee camp in the Gaza Strip and preparing a field hospital for Palestinians displaced by Israeli attacks, Al-Qahera News reported.

The camp will be in northern Deir el-Balah province in central Gaza, the Egyptian TV channel said, citing a security source. It said Egypt had already finished its second camp in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

The Egyptian Red Crescent, in cooperation with the Palestinian Red Crescent, set up the first camp for the displaced in Khan Yunis.

More than 2,200 Palestinians wounded in the Gaza Strip have crossed into Egypt through the Rafah border since Nov. 1, 2023, the Egyptian Ministry of Health said. The statement said 47 hospitals in eight Egyptian provinces treated the wounded and performed more than 1,300 surgeries.

Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s State Information Service, denied media reports alleging that Egypt is building camps on the Egyptian side of the border in Sinai to accommodate displaced Palestinians from Gaza.

Rashwan reiterated Egypt’s rejection of any “forced or voluntary” displacement of Palestinians outside their lands, especially to Egypt. Any such displacement would result in the “certain liquidation of the Palestinian issue, and [would be] a direct threat to Egyptian sovereignty and national security,” he added.



Tunisia Groups Urge Inclusion of Rejected Candidates in Poll

FILE PHOTO: Tunisian President Kais Saied attends a signing ceremony with Chinese President Xi Jinping (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China May 31, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/Pool/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Tunisian President Kais Saied attends a signing ceremony with Chinese President Xi Jinping (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China May 31, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/Pool/File Photo/File Photo
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Tunisia Groups Urge Inclusion of Rejected Candidates in Poll

FILE PHOTO: Tunisian President Kais Saied attends a signing ceremony with Chinese President Xi Jinping (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China May 31, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/Pool/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Tunisian President Kais Saied attends a signing ceremony with Chinese President Xi Jinping (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China May 31, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/Pool/File Photo/File Photo

A petition signed by prominent Tunisians and civil society groups was published on Saturday urging that rejected candidates be allowed to stand in the October 6 presidential election, Agence France Presse reported.

Signed by 26 groups including Legal Agenda, Lawyers Without Borders and the Tunisian Human Rights League, it welcomed an administrative court decision this week to reinstate three candidates who had been disqualified.

They are Imed Daimi, who was an adviser to former president Moncef Marzouki, former minister Mondher Zenaidi and opposition party leader Abdellatif Mekki.

The three were among 14 candidates barred by the Tunisian election authority, ISIE, from standing in the election.

If they do take part, they will join former parliamentarian Zouhair Maghzaoui and businessman Ayachi Zammel in challenging incumbent President Kais Saied.

Saturday's petition was also signed by more than 180 civil society figures including Wahid Ferchichi, dean of the public law faculty at Carthage University.

It called the administrative court "the only competent authority to adjudicate disputes related to presidential election candidacies.”

The petition referred to statements by ISIE head Farouk Bouasker, who on Thursday indicated that the authority will soon meet to finalize the list of candidates, "taking into consideration judicial judgements already pronounced.”

This has been interpreted as suggesting the ISIE may reject new candidacies if they are the subject of legal proceedings or have convictions.

The administrative court's rulings on appeals "are enforceable and cannot be contested by any means whatsoever,” the petition said.

It called on the electoral authority to "respect the law and avoid any practice that could undermine the transparency and integrity of the electoral process.”